


Day 8: Companion

by ANE925



Series: 30 Days Tumblr Prompt Challenge [8]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Derek Feels, Fluff, M/M, Magic, Magic Stiles, SO MUCH FLUFF, actual puppy Stiles, my beta made me do it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 12:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1018829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANE925/pseuds/ANE925
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek’s minding his own business, not bothering anyone, when, one day, he is rudely woken up by Scott banging on his door with a puppy. Derek has told Stiles that he doesn't need a companion and getting Scott to drop one off isn't going to change his mind. However, one look at the pup, and Derek caves. So, maybe Stiles won this one… Speaking of, has anyone seen Stiles lately?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 8: Companion

**Author's Note:**

> This is all my beta’s fault! She deserves all the blame for making me stay up all night to write unbearable puppy fluff. I had to restart, twice, on this one! Which, is why I am so late updating. Blame my beta. I’m gonna go sleep for two days….grumble grumble grumble

"...Ok, now we just add this rune and that should do it!" Stiles exclaimed, a manic grin on his face.

"And you’re sure this is safe?" Scott asked dubiously.

"Absolutely sure," Stiles replied, to which Scott just crossed his arms and gave him a look.

"Ok, mostly sure," Stiles amended and Scott's eyebrows joined the look.

"Ok, fine, I don't have a clue," Stiles admitted with a sigh and a shrug.

"Stiles!" Scott yelled in exasperation.

"Well, it's not like I can give it a test drive! Unless..." Stiles trailed off, mumbling to himself with a wild gleam in his eyes.

"No... no. I know that look and whatever you’re thinking of doing, stop. The answer is no!" Scott cried to deaf ears. Too late… Stiles was already chanting.

There was a loud bang, a shit ton of smoke, and Scott heard an ‘Oh Crap!’ shouted. As the smoke cleared, Scott frantically searched for Stiles.

"Stiles? Stiles!" Scott coughed out.

"Yip! Yip! Grrrrrrr..."

"What the hell?" Scott cried in disbelief, as he looked down to see a tiny puppy pulling on his pant leg.

"Stiles?" Scott asked, desperation thick in his voice.

"Grrrrr..." the puppy replied around a mouthful of denim.

______________________________________________________________________________

"Derek. Derek! DEREK!"

Derek woke up to banging on his door and his name being called out over and over again in an increasingly higher volume.

"What!"Derek snarled, throwing open the door to...to get a puppy shoved at him? Derek just glared at the puppy who stared right back. Then the puppy leaned forward and gave Derek's nose a tiny lick.

"Yip," the tiny thing said, tail wagging, as it tried to wiggle out of Scott’s hands and get to Derek who had leaned back after getting licked.

"Scott..." Derek started, warning clear in his voice.

"Whoa! No, hey, look, Stiles..." Scott started to defend. However, before Scott could explain, Derek raised a hand, silencing Scott at Stiles name. With a sigh, Derek raised the other hand to rub his head.

"Remind Stiles that we have already had this discussion. I do not need a companion," Derek gritted out, the word ‘companion’ seeming to physically hurt him.

The puppy whined, ears drooping, and tail halting. Derek was instantly filled with guilt. Derek couldn't explain it but the...puppy reminded him a lot of Stiles, especially because the damn thing was still trying to wriggle away from Scott to get to Derek.

"When did you talk to Stiles about that?" Scott asked, while the puppy started whining from the way Scott was holding it.

"Wait, no... That's not important. What is important..." Scott continued.

"You're hurting him," Derek said over Scott, irritation clear in his voice. Then, to everyone's shock, Derek reached forward and scooped the puppy out of Scott’s hands, cradling the thing in his hands.

"Uh..." Scott intelligently started, mouth hanging open and staring at Derek like he had grown another head. Derek just huffed and rolled his eyes. Really, Scott shouldn't be so shocked every time Derek did something right.

"Tell Stiles that I'll keep him, but only until Stiles can find a better owner," Derek said as he shut the door in, a still gaping, Scott's face.

"Wait..." Scott weakly got out before the door closed.

A soft noise drew Derek's attention back to the puppy in his hands. The thing was, obviously, exhausted and proved it by giving a tiny yawn, revealing it's petite baby teeth. And….Derek's heart just melted. Without his permission, treacherous thing that it was. Still, Derek wasn't cruel. He moved the puppy to cradle it in the crook of his arm, letting it curl up and jab it's cold nose into the crease of his elbow. Derek snorted, before heading into the kitchen to see whether or not he had any food that a puppy could eat, or if he would have to go shopping tonight.

After searching the entire kitchen, singlehandedly, and coming up with nothing, Derek decided that he would just have to go shopping. Maybe, this way was even better. With the puppy asleep, driving should be much easier. Grabbing a towel and his keys, Derek headed out, only stopping to reach for his jacket. Looking from the jacket to the puppy, still asleep in his arm, Derek put the jacket back. It wasn't that cold out... And he was a werewolf, meaning he had a higher body temperature.

Once Derek got to the car, he gently opened his door and slid into the driver's seat. Then, after laying the towel down on his lap, he slowly lowered the puppy onto the towel. The puppy made a tiny noise, before shuffling around and settling down again. Derek should move the puppy to the passenger seat but... but that might wake him up and then he would be a pain to drive with. Yep, that was it. With that settled, Derek took off towards the pet store.

The puppy, miraculously, slept through the drive. However, as soon as they got to the store, he was up, wide awake, and worst of all... curious. Derek grabbed a cart, laid the blanket down in the top part, and placed him on the towel. However, as soon as Derek entered the store, he knew he was out of his league.    

Everything asked for specifics. Specifics that Derek did not know. Like, 'only for small breeds,’ 'keep away from more aggressive types,’ 'helps with more energetic breeds,’ and other, completely made-up, Derek was sure of it, crap. Derek wasn't going to lie to himself, he was panicking a little. He didn't want to get anything that could hurt the little guy, but he didn't know what the little guy was.

Derek was about to give up, he would just go to Deaton tomorrow, and call it night, when he saw an area in the back that claimed it could help first time owners. Derek made a beeline straight toward it. He was a little surprised, and slightly grateful, to see that there was a person running the section.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Derek said to the lady.

"Yes, deary, how can I help you?" The lady asked, turning around. Derek would guess that she was in her 60's. She had a kind face, all smile and laugh-lines. Most likely, a grandma who's kids and grandkids had all left and needed something to take up her new freetime.

"Oh, that's an interesting breed you have with you," she said, as the puppy sniffed her hand curiously. The puppy gave the hand a tentative sniff. Apparently finding nothing wrong with the hand, he started licking it.  

"Oh yes, a very interesting little fellow you've got here," The woman said with a laugh, though, Derek could have sworn, he saw mischief in her eyes.

"Um, well here's the thing. I don't know what breed he is," Derek started, hoping the woman would be able to tell him. However, he could already feel her judgment and felt compelled to explain himself.  

"You see, my...friend thought he was helping and gave me this little guy. However, I don't have the first clue about him or what he needs," Derek explained, trying to stick as close to the truth as possible.

"Well then, let me have a closer look at the little guy and let’s see if I can help. Do you mind?" The woman asked, before picking up the puppy.

"No, no, go ahead," Derek told her, glad she was so willing to help. The woman gently picked him up, Derek noticed she did it correctly and not like how Scott did, and started to examine the little guy. After a few minutes, she put him pack in the cart with a self-satisfied ‘hum.’ Derek started to shift uncomfortably in the silence, which had never been a problem before Stiles.

"Well," the woman began, "You have an interesting one here. He is definitely a Gończy Polski."

At Derek's confused look, the woman chuckled and explained, "Sorry, sorry. I forget, not everyone speaks multiple languages. It's Polish for Polish Scenthound, a Polish hunting dog."

Derek couldn't help the snort that escaped at that. However, that just made the woman glare at him.

"My friend, the one that said I needed a companion, is Polish. I'm just wondering whether he made sure I got a Polish dog on purpose or not," Derek explained to the woman, making her chuckle.

"Well, I can't answer that, but I can tell you he would have had to have gone through a lot of trouble to get you this type of companion. They aren't that common, especially not in the United States. They are, however, very loyal and brave. They are also highly intelligent, though they have a lot of energy and they need guidance," The woman told him. Derek then spent half an hour talking with the lady about what he might need for his new...companion.

The puppy had lost interest ten minutes into them talking. He had tried to escape from the cart, so Derek had picked him up and placed him on the table to give him a belly rub. However, after five minutes, the puppy grew bored with that as well. At which point, the kind lady placed a small chew toy on the table.

Derek was now, absently, playing tug-a-war with the puppy, letting him get it every now and again, while talking with the lady. They finished and Derek thanked her for her help. He had just placed the puppy back in the cart with the chew toy and was getting ready to go shopping, when a thought struck him, making him smirk.

"One more thing, if you don't mind?" He asked her.

"Ask away," She replied with a smile.

"Do you happen to know the Polish word for wolf?" Derek asked. Stiles would love it once he found out. He would also probably laugh his ass off. However, Derek was a little shocked when the woman broke down, laughing so hard that tears came to her eyes.

"Oh, I like you," she said, once she settled down.

"You are an interesting one, alright. It's wilk," she told him with a broad smile. Then, she made him repeat the word back to her. She seemed surprised when he got it right on the first try.

"I taught myself Polish so that I would be able to say my friend’s name," Derek told her with a grin of his own. What she didn't know, was that Derek used it to both tease and blackmail Stiles.

"And what is your friend’s name?" the woman asked. However, before he could answer, the puppy, Wilk, started barking. Derek turned to him and started petting his head to quiet him down.

"Sorry, but I think that is my queue to leave. We have had a long day," Derek said with an apologetic smile.

"Not to worry," she reassured him.

"I am glad I was able to provide some assistance. You two have a good night," She told him.

Derek walked through the store letting little Wilk help him shop. Derek grabbed food, some toys that Wilk liked, including a wolf dog toy Derek might have snickered at, a leash, and a collar. Derek even made sure to get a dog tag for the collar with Wilk printed across the front and his address on the back.  

The drive home was a lot more active than the drive there. Wilk, unlike any normal puppy, was excited to be in a moving object. He, almost instantly, jumped from Derek's lap to explore, while Derek drove very, very, slowly.

Wilk explored everywhere that he could. The console, the floor under the passenger seat, the passenger seat, itself. Derek had to stop him several times from going into the back where he could possibly hurt himself. Then, Wilk found out that, if he put his paws up on the passenger door, he could see the outside world zoom by. The young pup was enthralled. Barking at the objects flying by, tag wagging a mile a minute.

Derek, somehow, managed to get everything into the apartment in only one trip. Which, normally, he wouldn't feel proud about, but, normally, he didn't have a little pup, conveniently passed out, that had forced Derek to surrender an entire arm for transportation services.

Derek opened the door to his apartment as quietly as possible and gently placed the bags down. Then, he grabbed the doggie bed that he had bought and, still carrying the sleeping puppy, went to his bed room. Derek placed the doggie bed at the foot of his bed then, gently, placed Wilk onto the center of it. Quickly changing for bed, Derek went back into the kitchen. He pulled out the two bowls he had bought, filling one with food and one with water, in case Wilk woke up hungry. After seeing to that and putting away the various other things that he had bought, Derek crept back into his bedroom. Relieved to see that Wilk still sleeping, Derek collapsed, ready for sleep.

No sooner had Derek felt himself drifting to sleep, then he heard a tiny whimper. Cracking an eye, Derek saw that Wilk had, not only woken up, but had walked around the bed to stare at Derek.

"What?" Derek asked, as if the puppy could reply. Wilk perked up at hearing Derek. Wilk, then, stood on his hind legs and pawed at Derek's bed. Wilk's front paws only made it about half way up Derek's bed.

"Yip," Wilk cried, still standing, tail wagging. Derek frowned.

"No," Derek told him. Wilk was, obviously, unimpressed because he did not move. Instead, he stayed, looking up at Derek with wide, oddly familiar, brown eyes, tail still wagging.

"Yip, Yip," Wilk tried again.

"No," Derek tried again, gently pushing Wilk on the chest, placing him back on all fours.

"I bought you your own bed," Derek tried pointing at the bed that he had, indeed, bought. All that earned Derek was a whine from Wilk.

"No. Go to bed," Derek told him, adding a little Alpha to his voice. However, instead of following the Alpha's order, Wilk just sneezed, as if to tell Derek, exactly, what he thought about being ordered around.

"Fine. But I'm not picking you up. Enjoy the floor," Derek told him and, dear Lord, someone save him. Derek was now holding a conversation with a dog. Wilk continued to whimper and whine for a few minutes, while Derek pretended to have fallen back asleep. Suddenly, it grew suspiciously quiet. Derek cracked an eye, thinking Wilk might have finally given up or, more likely, had fallen asleep on the floor and needed to be moved back to his bed.

Instead, what Derek saw was that Wilk had backed up a few steps and was giving the bed a calculating look. Before Derek could stop him, Wilk ran and jumped. However, the pup was still too young and too short to make it. He's paws almost reached the top, but not quite. Only Derek's quick reflexes saved the puppy from a painful trip down.

"Jesus," Derek cursed as he scooped Wilk up and onto the bed. Derek felt his heart beating fast and wild.  

"Don't do that," Derek told Wilk, who looked entirely too pleased with himself.

"Yip," Wilk said, wiggling out of Derek's hold to lick his face.

"Fine," Derek relented, head falling back to his pillow.

"You can sleep up here," Derek told him, moving Wilk off of his chest and onto the pillow next to him. That lasted until Derek closed his eyes again.

As soon as Derek closed his eyes, he heard Wilk uncurl and stand back up. Hoping the little guy was just curious, had enough self-preservation not to fall, and wanted to explore, Derek kept his eyes closed. Maybe, if he pretended to sleep, Wilk would follow his example.

Except, instead of exploring, like Derek thought he would, Wilk started stumbling, unaccustomed to the give of the bedding, his way back to Derek. Once Wilk reached him, he jumped onto Derek’s stomach and walked straight up to his chest, where he curled back up, over Derek’s heart.

Derek... Derek was too tired to deal with this. Instead of moving the pup and undoubtedly starting this whole process over again, Derek just raised a hand to pet down Wilk's back. After all, the young pup deserved a reward for all the work that he just did. At least, that's what Derek told himself, as he scratched behind Wilk's ear.

Derek would start obedience training in the morning. Wilk could have this one night.

The whole event seemed vaguely familiar to Derek. Like something he might have seen in a childhood movie. Whatever, he would worry about it later.

Derek woke up to a cold nose and something licking at his face. Blinking awake, Derek stretched and yawned, making Wilk lose his footing and fall headfirst into Derek.

"Yip," Wilk cried out, making Derek smirk. Followed, immediately, by a frown because he should not find a puppy so amusing. He shouldn't feel anything for the puppy. He was returning it, as soon as Stiles found a better home for it. Shit, why had he named the damn thing? Everyone knows that when you name it, you get attached to it. Before Derek could get too lost in his mind, Wilk had, apparently, just been waiting for him to wake up because, now that he was, Wilk leapt of the bed, uncaring of the height.

"NO!" Derek cried out as, once again, his reflexes were the only thing saving the puppy from a painful encounter with the floor. Derek's heartbeat was, once again, way too fast and, fuck, this pup was going to kill him. That was the master plan, wasn't it? Give Derek a puppy and let it kill him with worry.

Derek's thoughts were, once again, interrupted as Wilk nipped his finger and barked at him. Derek was shocked, before he watched Wilk walk towards the door and, right, he probably needed to go out. Wilk stopped at the doorway to turn and look at Derek.

"Yip," Wilk seemed to demand.

"All right, all right, I'm up, let's go," Derek said, getting out of bed to slide slippers on, a gag gift from Stiles, they had bunnies on them, but were super comfy and had a solid bottom so that they could be worn outside, and grab Wilk's leash. One look out the window also had him reaching for an umbrella because, of course, it was raining out.  

Wilk was whimpering quietly now, so Derek scooped him up and jogged down the stairs.

They, just, made it outside. And, of course, Wilk wanted to explore the outside world regardless of the fact that it was raining. With a sigh, Derek finally gave in and unclipped him from his leash, giving him free reign.

Derek was standing there, in a downpour, under an umbrella, with only pajama pants and bunny slippers on for a good twenty minutes, when a clap of thunder rolled across the sky. Wilk was at his side in seconds, barking at nothing and shivering.

"Sh, sh, I got you boy," Derek told him as he squatted down to clip the leash back on and give him a reassuring head rub with some calming, behind the ear, scratching thrown in there.  Wilk settled some and, then started tugging on the leash as he tried to walk back indoors.

"I hear you buddy, we're heading in," Derek soothed as he stood and walked back into the building, Wilk staying close to him. Once inside, Derek headed straight for the elevator to take them up. Wilk could learn to tackle the stairs another day.

Once back in the apartment, leash hung back up, Derek started to hunt down a towel, when he heard the clicking of tiny nails on hard wood floor.

"Wilk, I told you to stay," Derek said, turning to face the pup. Wilk just walked right up to him and started pawing at his shin with a whine. When all Derek did was stare down at him arms crossed, Wilk whined louder.

"What? You want up?" Derek asked. Wilk's ears perked forward at the word up and he perked, tail slowly wagging.

"No, I refuse to smell like wet dog all day," Derek told him, looking him in the eyes when he said that. And that, right there, making eye contact was the worst mistake that Derek could have made.     

 Wilk was up on two legs, front paws braced on Derek's shin, with his ears drooped, looking up with sad, begging, brown eyes. It only took one whimper for Derek's resolve to dissolve. And, really, what was with that? Derek was usually stronger than this. Usually, the only one that made Derek give in this much was Stiles.

Derek picked Wilk up, holding him in front of his face to glare directly at the pup.

"You, are a manipulating pain in my ass, who looks like a drowned rat right now," Derek told the pup. It was the truth. Derek, now, had mud all over his pajama pants and he, definitely, would smell like wet dog for a good portion of the day. Also, the rain had flattened all of Wilk's fur, making him look like a drowned rat.

Wilk, apparently, didn't like the comparison, because, quicker than Derek could stop him, the pup bit him on the nose. Derek, immediately, flashed red eyes and growled at the pup, you don't bite the Alpha. Wilk let go of his nose in shock. However, after looking at him, Wilf seemed to decide that Derek was playing with him because he growled back, playfully and bit Derek again.

Derek could already feel the migraine that would come from obedience training.

______________________________________________________________________________

Derek had never been more right in his life. Derek had, obviously, missed some key step or something because Wilk held no fear of him, nor respect for his orders. Even his betas, listened better than Wilk. The only one who listened as bad as him was Stiles. Who had been suspiciously absent through all this. But, that was something to worry about later, hopefully after he got Wilk to start listening to him.

It wasn't that Wilk was bad. He didn't go in the apartment and he didn't bark often. It was just that he was too damn curious and didn't listen. Like, even though Derek had bought him all those toys and had spent a whole day showing Wilk what was his and what was Derek's, Wilk preferred to chew on Derek's things than his own toys.

Wilk was a big fan of shoelaces. Don't ask Derek why, he had no clue. But, he had once woken up, after falling asleep in his chair reading, to Wilk tearing and chewing on the shoelaces of the shoes that he was wearing. The little brat had even managed to get the lace out of a double knot to gnaw on. And that was just the beginning.

Wilk had decided that Derek's growl now meant play time. So, every time Derek growled in irritation, Wilk would drop down to his front paws and mock growl back, tail wagging away the entire time.

Also, Wilk loved exploring and poking his nose into things that he should not.

Like the trash can. Something, a smell, a sight, Derek honestly had no idea, had caught the pup’s interest from inside the trash can. So, naturally, Wilk needed to look into it. Only, the pup wasn't yet tell enough to be able to see inside, while still on all fours. So, Wilk had put his front two paws and his entire weight on the top rim of the trash can. Wilk weighed more than the trash at the time, so the trash can had toppled over, spilling trash everywhere. And, what did the little brat decide to do?  Play in it. Spreading the trash all over the apartment and getting filthy.

Which lead to the next problem, bath time, and Wilk's, unnatural, love/hate relationship with it. Wilk loved bath time. He loved to splash water everywhere, getting Derek and the entire bathroom dripping wet and covered in suds.  Then, he loved taking off before Derek could dry him, shaking everywhere. Derek, now, closed and locked the door during bath time. However, Derek had to remind Wilk, every time, that, yes, he did, in fact, enjoy bath time. Because, every time he heard the word or water running or somehow knew Derek was only trying to pick him up to dump him in water, he took off, making Derek chase him throughout the entire apartment. And the little brat was crafty.  

Which, lead to the most troubling problem. Wilk was crafty and curious, which lead to him getting into trouble every time that Derek left him alone for more than an hour. Trouble, like, somehow, toppling Derek's laundry basket on top of himself, trapping Wilk under it until Derek got home. Or, pulling out every book that he could reach and scattering them around the apartment. Or, opening the fridge and pulling out all of the food. Or, figuring out how to get on top of the counter, but not being able to get down. Or, ripping out the squeaky...thing from inside a toy, leaving stuffing all over the apartment, morbidly, like a leaving a trail of guts from a kill.  

However, the last straw, was when Derek came home to the smell of blood and the sound of whimpering. Derek hadn’t felt that level of fear in years, not since Stiles was still in high school and didn't know how to defend himself, yet. Turns out, Wilk had knocked over a picture frame, causing the glass to break. Then, because he was curious and didn't have self-preserving bone in his body, decided to investigate the glass, stepping on a piece, and getting it stuck in his paw.

Since then, Wilk came with Derek whenever he had to leave the house, for more than an hour, and for any non-supernatural outings. Which came with its own problems... One being that Wilk was still curious and had to check out everything and everyone.

Which lead to the next big problem. Wilk was, objectively, cute and friendly, and loved destroying the image that Derek had, so carefully, crafted for himself. People were now willing to come up and talk with Derek. An old woman asked how he was settling and if he needed any dinners. A man asked if he had found work yet and if he needed a reference. Young people flirted, outrageously, with him, while he tried his best to glare them away. However, it was as if having a puppy took away every negative thing associated with you.

Instead of being Derek Hale-Ex-Murder-Suspect with a bad attitude, he became, Derek Hale-Misunderstood-Man-With-a-Tragic-Past-Who-Took-Time-to-Help-Troubled-Or-In-Trouble-Teens, with the cutest dog and sweetest glare because he was scared to love again.  

Derek did not appreciate this. At all. Wilk was in heaven. He loved the attention, often trying to pull Derek in the direction of people. Derek really needed to work on that obedience training, however, seeing that Wilk was still sleeping with him at night and still couldn't get up on the bed by himself, it really was a lost cause.

______________________________________________________________________________

Before Derek realized it, it had been two weeks since Scott had dropped Wilk off. Even weirder, is it had been two weeks since Derek last saw Stiles, or anyone else in the pack, to be honest. True, it had been quiet lately. But, usually, someone stopped in at least once a week. And, usually, Stiles stopped in three times a week, at minimum, and, when he wasn't over, he was either calling Derek or texting him.  

Now, it wasn't unheard of for Stiles to get absorbed in something and not make contact for a week. But, two full weeks without a word? That was weird, and worrisome. Nothing good ever came from the times Stiles got that absorbed. Now, worried and slightly paranoid, Derek gave Stiles a call.

Only, for it to go straight to voicemail. Ok, still nothing to truly panic over. Derek shot off a quick text and put his phone down. He would give Stiles until 8 o’clock tonight, then he would call Scott. Giving that it was only 11 am now, that was plenty of time.

"Yip!" Wilk cried out, bringing Derek's attention down to him. Wilk was sitting by Derek's feet, head cocked to the side, eyes wide, practically asking him what was wrong.

"It's nothing boy, I’m probably just overreacting," Derek said, giving Wilk a pat on the head absently. Derek couldn't tell you when this started. When had he started to talk this easily with his dog? When had he started understanding his dog’s silent language? When had he started think of Wilk as his dog?

Suddenly, there was a nip at his fingertips. Looking down, Derek saw that Wilk had dropped down onto his front paws, tail wagging, and a soft growl forming.

"Grrrrrr..." Wilk growled playfully, eyes expectant. With a put upon sigh, Derek quickly scanned the area. His door was locked, there was no one outside the window, and there was no one walking toward his apartment. Deeming the area clear and safe, Derek shifted to his full alpha form, a huge black wolf with a white triskele scar in between his shoulderblades and crouched down across from Wilk.

"GRRRrrrrrrr...." Derek growled back, slightly louder, but still just as playful.

"GRrrrr..." Wilk replied, springing up, nipping Derek's ear, and taking off. Derek gave chase, relishing in the feeling. Derek was hunting, stalking, but it was all in jest. Nothing serious would happen if he messed up, no one's lives hung it the balance. It was all just for fun. And, while his betas were getting there, they hadn't fully embraced their wolves enough to enjoy this, yet.

Wilk might be young and small, but he was smart. He was using his speed and compact size to his advantage, just as Derek had been teaching him to over the last two weeks. Case in point, Derek couldn't, immediately, see him when he entered the living area.  

Derek focused his energy on scent, following Wilk's smell to a pile of pillows the pup could easily have hidden under. Stalking, silently, up to the pile, Derek gently sunk his teeth into the top pillow and threw it across the room to uncover...a shirt. One of Stiles’ shirts that he had left in Derek’s apartment, to be specific.

Before Derek could think too far into it, Wilk jumped from the coffee table onto Derek's back, going straight for the neck like Derek taught him. However, Derek quickly shook Wilk off, sending him flying, with a small yelp of surprise.

Derek followed, ready to pin Wilk and win their little came, when Wilk whimpered. Concerned, Derek quickly went to see what was hurting and to comfort the small creature. He shouldn't have been so rough. Just as he reach Wilk though, the whimpering stopped and Wilk sprang up, head butting Derek with all his strength.

Derek was completely thrown off guard. The little brat had tricked him! Even though all of Wilk's strength still wasn't enough to move him, Derek had to give him this one. So, acting like Wilk had shocked him, Derek fell over onto his back.

Wilk gave him no time to recover, the smart little hunter that he was, and immediately jumped up onto Derek's stomach and growled at him, demanding that Derek submit to him. Derek let out a, pathetically fake, whimper of his own and bared his neck to the little hunter. Wilk yipped in excitement and nipped at his jugular.

"So, this is how our mighty Alpha falls..." a voice snarked with barely contained laughter. With a yelp, Derek flipped over to see Erica in the doorway, camera phone out, and the entire pack behind, other than Stiles, behind her. Derek would be eternally grateful, if the floor would just open up and swallow him, right now. However, since the floor refused to accommodate his wishes, Derek whined theatrically and dropped down, hiding his face under his paws.

The pack burst out laughing as they filed in, sensing that Derek was just messing with them since he was embarrassed. However, Wilk didn't know that, and he didn't know the pack that had invaded their space.

Wilk whined, worried, as he grabbed Derek's ear and pulled. Derek lifted one paw to look at the pup. Once he realized he had Derek's attention, Wilk rubbed his nose on Derek's face and gave him comforting licks.

If Derek could roll his eyes in this form, he would have. Instead, he just gave Wilk a nudge with his nose and gave him a playful growl. Wilk, thinking they were going to play again, dropped to his front paws and growled back.

The pack broke out in laughter, again, seeing this tiny puppy face down the big bad alpha. Derek was sure they made quite the sight.

"Oh, Derek, you look like a proud papa right now! Did we interrupt hunting lesson?" Erica asked, through her giggles, and reached out to ruffle his head, only to nearly lose her hand to a puppy, Polish, hunter.   

All laughter stopped, as everyone froze to watch the tiny puppy growl, actually growl, at Erica in warning, placing himself between Derek and the pack. Derek was shocked, and a little surprised, though it did make sense, when he stopped to think about it.

To Wilk, these strangers, who sort of smelled like wolf, but not quite, had invaded his home, mocked his Alpha, who then smelled weird, interrupted play time, and then tried to touch his Alpha. If Derek didn't know better, he would have been pissed too. Derek huffed, in amusement, at the scene in front of him though. A room full of full grown werewolves, backing off because a pup growled at them.  

Derek cut off Wilk's growling by picking him up by the scruff of his neck and carrying him to his bedroom. Once there, Derek shifted back into a human and dressed himself. Fully clothed, Derek turned to Wilk and picked him up to cradle him in his arms. Wilk put his front paws on his chest and cocked his head, making Derek laugh.

Derek allowed himself to nuzzle-comfort Wilk, before standing up and taking Wilk out for proper introductions. When Derek walked back into the living area, he noticed that everyone had settled down and that Stiles was not part of the group. That was odd. But, first things first.

"Everyone this is Wilk. Scott dropped him off two weeks ago and I am watching him until Stiles finds him a home. Wilk, this is my pack," Derek said, hoping Wilk would understand. It seemed that, for once, luck was on his side because Wilk didn't growl at anyone. He even let Lydia and Allison play with him after awhile.  

"Where's Stiles?" Derek asked the room at large, but looking at Scott. Who suddenly looked a lot more nervous. That was never good.

"We don't know," Isaac said.

"You don't know?" Derek asked, voice filled with a forced calm.

"The genius got himself cursed and now we can't seem to locate our human anywhere." Isaac told him, pleasant as you please.

"Why don't you try explaining from the beginning?" Derek stated with forced calm. Wilk whined, abandoning the girls to come over and paw at Derek’s shins, until Derek picked him up. Cradling him in one arm and petting him with the other, Derek never broke eye contact with Isaac, waiting for him to explain.

"Well, it seems Stiles was working on creating a spell to help out a pack out east. And, he may or may not have 'borrowed' some knowledge from a local witch," Isaac started,"And, when he  went to give the spell a test run, it backfired and..."

"And we know this, how?" Derek asked.

"Scott was with him when it happened. And he said that, when the smoked cleared, our Stiles was nowhere to be seen. Instead of doing anything rational, Scott panicked and dropped the puppy off here, while we worked on finding out what, exactly, happened to Stiles and how we could fix it.  Which, is how we found out that the witch had laid a booby trap in the spell Stiles 'borrowed' and we now need to find her to lift the curse," Isaac finished with a shrug. Like it was no big deal that Stiles was missing.

"And I wasn't immediately informed because..." Derek asked.

"You were on puppy duty. None of us could have watched the puppy and, if we had told you, you would have abandoned the poor thing to go looking," Lydia informed him. Derek felt a migraine forming. Before all this, Derek hadn’t even known werewolves could get migraines. Now, he seemed to get one every other time Stiles' name came up.

"Ok. So, you're telling me now, because...?" Derek questioned.

"Because, now, we have leads and need to strategize," Boyd told him.

"Alright, let's get down to business," Derek said.

______________________________________________________________________________    

Later that night, after everyone went home and Derek had gone to bed, the puppy curled up and passed out on his chest, Derek started thinking about how much he was going to miss this. And, how he should, really, teach his pack how to lie or, at least, be more subtle. Though, Scott and pack aside, Derek really should have seen it sooner. Derek read over the list he made after the pack left of all the reasons why the puppy was, indeed, Stiles.

1) puppy showed up right around the time Stiles disappeared

2) puppy has freakishly similar eyes

3) hind sight, creepy old lady, who never mentioned her name, was oddly interested in puppy

4) puppy is Polish breed rarely found outside of homeland

5) puppy listens about as well as Stiles

6) puppy has about same level of self-preservation as Stiles

7) the shear amount of time he had compared the puppy to Stiles

8) Scott's nervousness and inability to answer, plus over all packs’ shiftiness

9) Isaac's carefully worded explanation

10) the fact the puppy makes me feel happy, feel guilty, feel playful, feel...

Derek sighed. Yeah, the puppy was totally Stiles. Derek could only hope that Stiles would remember nothing, when he got changed back, since it seemed that puppy Stiles didn't remember anything. After all, Derek had talked about a lot of secrets with Wilk, the puppy, in the safety and cover of night. A lot of secrets that pertained to one, certain, individual. Derek was so screwed. Maybe Derek should play along with the pack... Pretend he knows nothing and just let Stiles stay a puppy.

No, he couldn't do that... For one thing, if he was being honest, he missed Stiles. Missed his chatter, his presence, his noisiness, his...himness. Even with the puppy, Derek had been thinking about Stiles. Hell, he had named the puppy wolf in Polish because he knew that Stiles would have gotten a kick out of it.

Well, he would find out tomorrow, after confronting the woman. ‘No use worrying about it,’ Derek tried to tell himself, as he tried to fall asleep.

______________________________________________________________________________

Derek took the puppy, Stiles, out for a walk one last time, before heading to the pet store. Where, surprise, the woman still worked. She took one look at him and just sighed.

"You figured it out," She said and Derek nodded in confirmation.

"Meet me in the forest, behind the store, in an hour. My shift ends then. That ok?" the woman asked.

"As long as you show up," Derek informed her. The woman promised she would and Derek left.

Derek took the puppy, fucking hell, Stiles, with him, to wait in the woods and unclipped the leash, letting him explore. Derek was going to miss him. He was going to miss always having someone underfoot. Someone else always being in the house with him. Someone else making noise, curling up, playing, and, maybe, most of all, Derek would miss the extra body to sleep with.

By the time the woman showed up, Derek was in a very grim mood and short on patience, so he cut to the chase and just asked, "Why?'

"Stiles needed to learn not to take things without asking and to check with a more experienced magic user, before trying out complex or newly created spells. And, you needed to learn that you are capable of, and even good at, taking care of other living things and that it is okay to care for something other than yourself. I figured, you know, two birds, one stone," She answered, swiftly and with a shrug, not even pretending to misunderstand or make an excuse. Derek could respect that.

"So now what?" Derek asked.

"Do you want a companion?" she asked and, no, not like this. For the first time, Derek felt anger swell up at the mere idea. She must have felt it because she held up her hands up in surrender.

"Alright. Alright, calm down, no need to get hasty. I think two weeks is enough. I'll turn him back, but I expect him to give me a full apology and ask next time he needs something," She informed Derek.

"I'll let him know," Derek promised her.

"Thank you, but that is unnecessary. Stiles will remember everything once he turns back," she informed him. Derek couldn't help but flinch at hearing that.

"Are you saying that he has all his memories right now? That he knows who he is?" Derek asked her, looking at Stiles to see if he could tell.

"Yes and no," The woman answered, "Yes, he knows who he is, in the instance that he still behaves like himself. At his core, he is still the same being. However, his cognativity has been greatly reduced. The easiest way to explain it is to think about amnesia patients. They still know who they are, they still act like themselves at times, they walk, talk, eat, and sleep the same way, but they have no memory of why they do it this way. Then, their memories return and they remember the why. Stiles is just like that, with the added bonus of being in a puppy’s body. And, just like with an amnesia patient, while he remembers nothing before now, when the memories return, he will have his original memories as well as the ones he made as a puppy. Make sense?" She explained to him.

It did. It actually made a lot of sense.

"Yes, thank you for the explanation," Derek said.

"You are a curious one. Thanking a witch who you know cursed your love," The woman said.

"No, I am thanking the woman who took the time to explain and who can turn him back. Also, I find it best not to insult people who can take my memories and turn me into an animal so easily," Derek replied.

"Oh, you are a delight," the woman said with a laugh.

"If you or your overly curious love need anything, look me up," The woman finished and turned to walk away. Only... Stiles was still a puppy. As if reading his mind, and for all he knew she could do that, the woman turned and told him, "He'll turn human again tonight, under the full moon" and, then she just... vanished. Derek had never looked forward to a pack run less.

______________________________________________________________________________

The entire pack was already there when Derek showed up for the run. They had decided to take Stiles, still in puppy form, on the run with them, until the moon turned him back. He would, most likely, be a little out of it and would do better surrounded by pack. And the pack would do better being outside.

Derek handed Stiles off to Lydia as he stripped and went into his full wolf form. He figured, puppy Stiles would be more comfortable running with the pack if he was running next to a familiar wolf.

Once Derek was fully shifted and Stiles was at his side, the pack took off running. It was always freeing, running during a full moon. It made their very blood sing. Even puppy, Stiles, seemed to feel it, as they chased shadows through the trees.

When the moon hit its peak in the night sky, Stiles started to whimper. Derek howled for the pack and they appeared in an instant. Surrounding around to keep it safe. After the first whimper, though, the cursed lifted just like it had set in. There was a bang, lots of smoke, and, suddenly, a naked, human, Stiles sat where puppy Stiles once stood.

"Wha..." Stiles started, completely disoriented. And then, he was being surrounded and hugged by the pack. Derek took in the scene and a sense of relief filled him. As much as he might miss Wilk, he was glad that  Stiles was back. After making sure the area was safe, Derek slinked off into the shadows, away from the pack, heading back towards the cars.  

Upon reaching the cars, Derek found his suspicions confirmed. Both girls were still hanging around, waiting to hear the news. The both started upon seeing Derek. However, as soon as he nodded, Allison broke into a smile, as Lydia reached into the Jeep that Scott had driven here and pulled out a sack.

"I'm going to go give Stiles some clothes. I assume the poor boy came to, completely naked?" Lydia asked. Derek just nodded his head again and pointed his nose in the direction the girls needed to take. With an understanding nod from Allison and a calculating look from Lydia, the girls took off to welcome Stiles back.

Derek went home and snuck into his apartment, still in wolf form. He then curled up and slept on the doggie bed in his bedroom. It was the only thing that he hadn't, yet, packed away and still smelled of puppy Stiles, since it hadn't been touched since the first night.

______________________________________________________________________________

It had been a week since Stiles returned to being human and, no matter what anyone said, Derek was not avoiding him. Derek had just been really busy all week. Busy doing very important Alpha things. Things that, sometimes, required him to leave his apartment quickly and stealthily. And, if those times coincided with when Stiles’ Jeep was driving down the street, well, that was just a coincidence.  

Derek was just returning from a grocery run, which was extra annoying now because everyone kept asking where Wilk was and Derek had to tell them that  he had only been dog sitting and Wilk had gone home with his owner, when he noticed that something wasn't right. He was just about to open his door again and walk back out, when a slither of mountain ash rushed by, completing the circle. Derek was now trapped in his own apartment. With the one person he had been avoiding...coincidently missing.

"Stiles," Derek greeted, walking right to the kitchen to put his groceries away, ignoring the boy sitting on his counter.

"You know, this wise old wolf once taught me that, sometimes, you just can't sneak up and stalk a prey, head on. Sometimes, you had to be a bit more creative. What do you think of my solution?" Stiles asked, in way of greeting.

"Effective, but not very efficient. You would have to get to know your prey very well to lay a trap like this," Derek told him.

"Hmm, I'll work on it," Stiles replied, sliding off the counter to lean on it.

"Can I help you, Stiles?" Derek asked.

"Well actually, if you wouldn't mind, I was thinking we could talk," Stiles told him.

"No," Derek said

"Derek," Stiles tried again

"No, Stiles," Derek said in his no argument voice. However, this was Stiles and that tactic hadn't even worked when he was a puppy.

"Derek, I really think, we should talk..."

"No, Stiles,"

"Why not?" Stiles asked, voice filled with confusion and frustration.

"Because, I'm not good enough!" Derek exclaimed in a moment of anger. "For crying out loud! I didn't even realize it was you. I lived with you for two weeks and never figured it out. Is that the type of person you want to be with? Someone who can't even tell when it's you?" Derek asked him.

"Oh my God, Derek, I was a dog. A dog with amnesia. How could you have known? And, if you really want to do a worth comparison, who figured out who the witch was that turned me back? That's right, you did. And, you know what? You had a lot less to go on than the rest of the pack. You only had your gut instinct. They, practically, had a paper trail and couldn't find her. Also, you figured out who I was. No one else in the pack did that. Scott was there when it happened, and then he went and told everyone else. You are the only one who figured it out, the only one who noticed" Stiles told him.

"But..." Derek started to protest.   

"No. If I had known that it was your self esteem that was keeping us apart, I would have made a move ages ago," Stiles told him.

"What?" Derek asked, completely lost.

"Derek, do you know what I was doing when the curse hit me? What I was trying to do?" Stiles asked, instead of answering. Derek could only shake his head.

"I was trying to find a way to take two different DNA strands from the same sex and merge them together... I was trying to create a spell that would make magical gay werewolf babies. And, the whole time I was working on it, I was thinking about us. About, how I hoped I could make it work so that, one day, we could have a magical gay werewolf baby of our own. I like you, Derek. I really, really like you. And, I have liked you for a long time. I don't know what I needed to say or do to prove it to..." Stiles was cut of as Derek sealed his mouth with his.

"Me too," Derek said when he pulled back, "I really, really, like you too, but you know that. From our late night discussions, you know how I feel..." Derek trailed off because Stiles look confused at first, then pissed.

"I didn't get to keep all my memories. I couldn't figure out what all the blank spots had in common, but, I am beginning to suspect, they were all the times you talked to me about...me," Stiles told him, looking a little miffed that he didn't remember. Derek laughed.

"Doesn't matter, I can tell you again," Derek told him.  

"Aww... Does that mean that I can be your companion, Derek,?" Stiles teased, wiggling his eyebrows seductively. Derek groaned.

"Don't, ever, say that again," Derek told him. Stiles just laughed.   

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the cute, fluffy, puppyness!  
> As always… you know what, no. All the blame goes to my horrible slavedriver, www.welcometotheasylummywaywardson.tumblr.com,(you love me and you know it) who better proofread this because it is ALL HER FAULT! Her and this stupid, unbearably, cute picture from tumblr http://welcometotheasylummywaywardson.tumblr.com/post/64979646819. PS, that is her tumblr. I dream of puppies now. (as you well should) I ended up spending hours looking up Polish names and dog breeds and dog personalities and I am, still, not sure that I got it all right! Ugh... this was the most infuriating, impossible to write, dreadful fic and the worst part is, I think I love it! Even though, I basically had to rewrite it twice to get it to this point, I love how it ended up and how cute it is and how it made my beta squeal as she read it and puppy stiles! And the sun is rising, again now, so I am, finally going to sleep. Good night all and, once again, thanks for reading.  
> *goes off and dies from cute puppy plus no sleep overload*(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, you can’t die, what if I want a sequel?)  
> P.S. everything in () is the work of my Beta who likes to leave me notes to find.


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